1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to installation of carpets on floors and walls and any other areas where carpet may be installed, and more particularly to method and apparatus for rapidly cooling carpet seams which have been formed using hot melt adhesives.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Installation of carpet in buildings frequently requires joining of one section of carpet to the next. This occurs for example where a stock section of carpet is too small to finish a room, corridor, or other space in which carpet is being installed. Two sections of abutting carpet are tightly joined by applying a strip of tape to the underside of both sections, wherein the tape overlaps each section. In order to present a professional finished appearance to the installation, it is necessary to draw two joined sections tightly to one another so that the seam is imperceptible to observers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,253, issued to Martin I. Anderson on Aug. 12, 1986, sets forth a mechanical roller device intended to draw sections of carpet together. U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,173, issued to Kenneth W. Wentz on Oct. 25, 1988, sets forth a pressing tool, which exploits the body weight of the installer and brings the same to bear on the carpet. These and like devices assist in maintaining the two sections together, but fail to address a subsequent problem. The tape conventionally utilizes a hot melt adhesive, which permeates each section of carpet when it is heated and installed. If no intervention is undertaken by the installer, it usually takes about 30 minutes for the adhesive to cool sufficiently to bond the joined sections of carpet securely to the tape and to each other. It is necessary to wait for the cooling of the carpet to assure that stretching of the carpet will not separate the two joined sections. This process entails economic loss for commercial carpet installers, since there is usually little to do while a seam is cooling. Because commercial installers typically work in teams of several people, economic losses mount quickly during this phase of installation of carpet.
The prior art has recognized this problem and has proposed apparatus to hasten cooling of the hot melt adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,080, issued to Andrew Ramirez et al. On Feb. 18, 1992, describes a device for discharging a cooling gas over carpet seams.
While this approach does indeed hasten cooling times, it entails several drawbacks. One is that the device requires a supply of chilled or alternatively, compressed gas. If a special gas such as carbon dioxide is employed, it must first be obtained and stored. This adds to the cost and to the equipment at the job site. Ramirez et al. suggest that compressed air may be utilized, chilling occurring upon expansion when pressure is released. However, even compressed air entails additional expenses. Either it must be obtained and stored in a suitable pressurized container, or else a compressor must be brought to the job site. Both situations entail additional expense and add to steps, which must be preformed to install carpet.
Other drawbacks include potential impairment of the installation or of the appearance thereof. Temperature extremes which accompany the chilled high-pressure gas approach may cause the hot melt adhesive to cool unevenly, thereby distorting a previously ideal appearance. Furthermore, discharge of high-pressured gas against the carpeting acts to a slight degree to urge the adhesive away from the overlaying carpet sections. An improvement in carpet seam forming which does not impair the final appearance of the installation remains a need in the commercial carpet installation industry.
The present invention provides a carpet tool for bonding two carpet sections comprising, a flat bottom chamber positionable on top of the carpet, apertures through the flat bottom of the chamber, and vacuum means for pulling air up through the apertures of the flat bottom chamber.
The present invention provides a method for bonding carpet sections with a hot glue adhesive comprising, abutting the carpet sections, applying hot melt adhesive to span the joint between the two carpet sections, applying a vacuum at the top of the two sections of carpet to induce air flow within the carpet and cooling the hot melted adhesive.
The present invention improves over the prior art in effectiveness, cost, and reduced time of cooling. In the present invention, vacuum is employed to draw ambient air up through freshly seamed carpeting. An effective degree of vacuum is easily achieved by commercial apparatus incorporating little more than a powered fan. Vacuum thereby obtained is advantageously brought to bear up through the carpeting through a body exposing slots or apertures to the carpeting, which slots or apertures are specially adapted for maximal effectiveness in applying vacuum evenly up through the carpet. The vacuum utilized in pulling air up through the carpet greatly reduces the temperature of said air due to the simple fact that when air is vacuumed through a restricted area, the air becomes greatly cooled. The present invention allows the carpet to be cooled preferably in about one minute and more preferably in about five minutes time compared to not using any means to cool the seam which would normally takes over thirty minutes of time. The present invention also keeps the joined carpet sections from cooling unevenly thus keeping the seam from looking deformed as it does many times due to the carpet setting up unevenly in the glue due to traffic on the seam.
This arrangement overcomes the tendency of the prior art to cool taped seams unevenly. Therefore, the final installation enjoys unimpaired appearance. Costs are lowered since compressed air and other pressurized sources of gas cost considerably more than commercially available vacuum apparatus. Time typically required for cooling of a newly formed seam in commercially available carpeting to the point that it will resist distortion by subsequent power stretching is reduced from half an hour, where no expedited cooling is utilized, to about five minutes and depending on the thickness of the carpet to about one minute.
Due to the tremendous suction applied to the carpet, this present invention pulls the carpet fibers up and combs, shapes and correctly resets the carpet fibers at a perfectly even height so the seam looks immaculate even on plush carpet while at the same time preventing the fibers from becoming stuck in the glue.
Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to expedite cooling of newly formed hot melt adhesive taped seams of carpet joints.
It is another object of the invention to minimize cost, bulk, weight, and complexity of apparatus used for cooling seams.
It is a further object of the invention to achieve even cooling of newly formed seams.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.